PCS Alumni Hall of Fame
Class of 2014
Jill Kathleen Eisenhard
Jill Kathleen Eisenhard was the Salutatorian of the Class of 1993. Many of her activities revolved around leadership roles. She was President of National Honor Society and SADD. She was the recipient of the DAR Good Citizenship Award, and Camp Good Days and Special Times award. Jill also excelled in sports. She was Captain and Co-Captain of basketball, track and cross-country teams and set school records in pentathlon and shot put.
After graduation from Pavilion, Jill attended Cornell University where she was one of three coordinators to produce the second edition of the Cornell Women’s Handbook. Her first job after graduation was writing curriculum for a medical school that focused on women’s health issues in a male dominated medical field. She worked for five years with Long Island College Hospital and was instrumental in launching the Center for Women’s Health, a comprehensive medical center for women, the first of its kind in Brooklyn, NY.
Jill’s greatest accomplishment to date is as the Founder and Executive Director of the Red Hook Initiative (RHI) in Brooklyn, New York. It is a nationally recognized community center that is focused on social change through youth development and community building. It currently serves 2,500 people annually. The philosophy of the RHI is to allow local residents to create their own social change. RHI has an “empowerment pipeline” that annually serves hundreds of low-income youth in middle school, high school and young adults to ensure high school graduation, college acceptance and retention, job training, and opportunities for community leadership. RHI has become a beacon of hope. Jill’s strategic vision took RHI through periods of growth that included securing non-profit status, creating a board of directors, and launching a capital campaign to secure and design a new location. Nine out of ten people working there are community members, who undergo intense professional development and training. With an annual operating budget of $2.5 million, last year alone, more than $750,000 was turned back into the community through staff salaries.
During Hurricane Sandy, Jill worked with staff, board, elected officials, community leaders and FEMA to lead relief efforts in Red Hook during the 18 days with no heat, electricity and running water in 3,000 units of public housing. Afterwards she designed programs and managed long-term recovery work locally while also contributing to city-wide panels, policy discussions and research projects outlining RHI’s model community-based response.
Some of the organization awards under her Leadership include “Public Health Award from the PHA of NYC, 2013; “Building Brooklyn Award” from the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, 2012; Jordan Brand, Wings for the Future Award, 2013; and the New York Magazine Excellence in Nonprofit Management Award, 2012.
Her personal achievements and awards include Crain’s 40 Under 40, 2014; Brooklyn Spectator “Rising Star Award”, 2013; Brooklyn Women of Distinction Award, from CGN Courier Life, 2010 and was featured in More Magazine “Job Genius” series, July 2012.
Jill is married to Kimathi Gordon-Somers, a lawyer and teacher of Trial Advocacy at St. John’s University School of Law. He is also the Associate Director of Career Development, and Externship Coordinator. Jill’s own personal belief is reflected in the Red Hook motto, “You can make anything happen, if you truly believe in it.”
Donald Edward Powers
Donald Edward Powers was the Valedictorian of the Pavilion Central School Class of 1962. While at Pavilion, he was a representative at Empire Boys State, editor of the school paper, a class officer for four years, and a student council representative. As a NYS Regent Scholar, he went on to graduate from Canisius College with a BS in Mathematics and then graduated in four years with a Doctorate in Educational and Psychological Measurement from the University of Pennsylvania, receiving honors for his dissertation research.
Don was hired by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) in Princeton, NJ, and has been with the organization for over 43 years, attaining the current title of Principal Managing Research Scientists. As the world's largest nonprofit educational testing research organization, ETS develops, administers, and scores more than 50 million tests annually, including SAT, GRE® tests and The Praxis Series™ in more than 180 countries. For many of these testing programs, Don has coordinated the research programs and has conducted his own research, publishing more than 200 articles, book chapters, and technical reports, some of which have studied the effects of preparing for tests like the SAT.
Don was honored with the ETS Senior Scientist Award in 2000 and is a member of professional organizations such as American Educational Research Association, National Council on Measurement in Education, and the American Psychological Association. He has been inducted into Phi Delta Kappa, an international association for professional educators.
In his community, Don has been involved as a coach in both the Council Rock Little League and the Newtown Colonial Softball Association, and as a board member and administrator for the Little League. For his efforts, he has received the Little League's Volunteer of the Year award. Don's dedication to the youth of his area is also seen in his service as a board member for the Newtown Youth and Community Center and as a founding member of (and sometimes actor for) the Newtown Arts Company, a community theater group that awards scholarships to deserving students pursuing studies in the performing arts. He is also certified as a tutor of English as a second language for Literacy Volunteers of America.
In January of 2010, Don represented ETS in Beijing, China, as one of four international speakers at the Fourth Annual Conference on Technologies in Testing. It was a recent highlight of his career, where an audience of more than 700 Chinese human resource managers, university professors, and government officials far outnumbered the entire population of the "sleepy little town" of Pearl Creek where Don grew up. He still feels indebted to that little berg, especially to his cousins, aunts, uncles, and all the great neighbors there. But most of all, he is grateful for the love and guidance that he received from his parents, Charles ("Bee") and Mildred ("Millie") Powers, who was one of the first graduates of PCS. He and his brothers (Jack, Bob, and Tom) have established a scholarship at PCS in his mother's name.
Don lives in Newtown, PA, and feels that, by far, his greatest achievement has been to have had a hand in raising (with their mother, Marji) his two boys and one daughter, all of whom have attained Master's degrees and have demonstrated significant achievements of their own. But most of all, they have all grown up to be the kind and caring human beings that Don couldn't be more proud of.
Virginia Wright Sackel
Virginia Wright Sackel (Ginger) graduated as Valedictorian of her class in 1966. She then went on to Brockport University from which she graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1970 with a Bachelor of Science degree, with a major in K-12 Physical Education. In 1981, she was granted a sabbatical leave from Pavilion Central School, where she had taught since 1971. She received a Fellowship at the University of Albany, in order to complete her Master of Science degree in Special Education, graduating Suma Cum Laude. While at Albany, she completed internships in Special Education while also taking graduate classes at night.
After returning to PCS, Ginger was both vice-president and then president of the teachers association. She was instrumental in continuing “Make A Difference Day” where students collected food and clothing for needy families. The flag pole and bench, that is currently in the park in downtown Pavilion, was purchased with some of the funds as well. She also organized students and teachers to participate in Habitat for Humanity, the “Make a Wish” foundation, and volunteers to man the kettles for the Salvation Army.
Ginger considers herself blessed with many talented students while teaching and coaching at PCS. She was also an accomplished coach of field hockey, soccer, basketball, volleyball, and softball. She had several undefeated seasons with many of her teams and was selected Coach of the Year many times in these sports within the G-R league and at the local sports’ banquet held in Pavilion. Sectional and Regional titles were won in Volleyball and Sectional titles were won in Field Hockey.
Another particular highlight of her teaching career was preparing several special education students to successfully take the GED exam in Rochester. Ginger cared a great deal for all students, but those special ones were very close to her heart. She, after a bullying incident, and students from each grade level developed the student “Code of Conduct,” which is still used today.
Upon her retirement from coaching at PCS in 1990, a banquet was held in her honor where donations were made by students, their parents, and staff. Ginger used these monies to establish the Sackel Award which is given annually to a female student-athlete at graduation.
Ginger retired to North Carolina where she is still involved in the community. Her volunteer activities included a Domestic Violence and Rape Crisis center and she helped to organize and run field days for elementary special education students in her county. She was a member of the Board for a group home for mentally-challenged adults. She also organizes games and arts and crafts in the adult life-skills class at the Transylvania Vocational Services. She helped coach mentally-challenged adults in volleyball on Saturdays so that they could compete in the State competition in Raleigh, NC.
Her personal achievements include coaching field hockey players from Sections 5 and 6 (some from Pavilion) to winning Gold Medals each of 3 summers at the NYS Empire Games. She also designs and creates stained glass items as gifts for family, friends and organizations. Her most notable achievement, however, is having successfully dealt with some of her multiple sclerosis limitations.